After years of impediment by the Senegalese government, a television station belonging to Mbalax superstar, Youssou N'Dour, finally aired its maiden programme on Wednesday.
One of the dominant voices on the continent, Youssou N'Dour has over the years evolved from being a mere musician to a media mogul, owning a major Dakar based media group Futurs Medias, which include the radio RFM (Radio Futurs Medias) and L'Observateur, said to be Senegal’s most circulated daily newspaper. Both are popular sources of information in political Senegal.
The TV component of this group, TFM (Television Futurs Medias), finally got clearance to operate after the authorities reportedly got assurances about its mode of financing.
N'Dour was a big force behind the coalition of civil society-politicians that helped ended the reign of Senegal’s long serving Socialist government, under President Abdou Diof. However, over the years, Wade has fallen out with majority of the opposition political parties that helped brought him to power.
N'Dour’s newspaper, L’Observateur, often uncompromising in its analysis of happenings in the country, has often been at the center of such expression of resentment among the ever exigent Senegalese populace. This has been attributed to the fear of the government of the idea of establishing a television under the same auspices of Futurs Medias.
Senegal’s Prime Minister, Souleymane Ndene Ndiaye, in a congratulatory note to Youssou N'Dour on his initiative was quoted as saying: "The television is an instrument that serves to broadcast information. It can be an instrument of propaganda, but it can also be dangerous."
The Mbalax superstar though, had always remained steadfast. "I never had any doubt, because I always believed that TFM would broadcast, sooner or later," he said Wednesday.
Television Futurs Medias had been in the making since 2008 when Mr N'Dour first unveiled the idea. Since then disagreement about its mode of financing and programme contents, coupled with rumors of bad blood between N'Dour and the Wife and son of the Senegalese leader, contributed greatly to the delay in acquiring signal to broadcast.
Last May, President Wade stated that the refusal to issue Youssou a licence to operate had been based on the state's wish to prevent any influence on its policy by “foreigners”.
AFP quoted Communications Minister Moustapha Guirassy as saying Ndour managed to persuade the government that the money was not coming from abroad and provided the evidence to back up his claim.
Senegal's fifth privately owned television channel, TFM’s maiden edition Wednesday evening featured a debate among diplomats, business people, musicians, politicians and officials. Despite the painful delay in broadcasting, the new TV station is certainly a remarkable addition to Senegal’s relatively enviable media environment where every citizen plays their part in safeguarding the long held tradition of freedom of speech.

---